Council fetes senior citizens

They came gaily dressed in white lace and beautiful head gears. For the men, it was a locally sewn blue cap; the women had a pink head gear known to the locals as gele of the same fabric. Something else was common to all of them; they were old men and women, the least, being 60 years old. They had all congregated at the events centre of the Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area, where the wife of the council chairman Pastor (Mrs) Modupe Oke and her husband, Oloruntoba had thought it fit to celebrate them as part of the activities marking the World Aged Day.

It wasn’t really the first time they had been so gathered. They had been gathering monthly for the past three years. Their coming together then was financed solely by a midwife, Mrs. Folorunso Lawal, who had been transferred to another council. Mrs. Oke adopted the initiative and continued from where she stopped; ensuring that the elderly meet monthly in a relaxed atmosphere, undergo light exercises to improve their health and give them health tips as well as check their vital signs.

That was not all, Mrs. Oke ensures they get appropriate drugs and food such as wheat, sugar and salt as well as groundnut oil.

But the recent event was different. The crowd of the elderly that came was way above the number that usually showed up monthly. Not less than 1,000 of them came, as a council official said they had to get names of more aged from the various Community Development Associations, (CDAs), wards, and community leaders.

Oke, who confirmed this, said the council had taken the step to ensure that as many elderly as possible were feted at the ceremony which marked a day set aside globally to draw attention to issues affecting them in the society.

The chairman, who expressed happiness at seeing most of them in good health, thanked God for preserving them, even as he praised his wife for having a thought for the aged.

He said celebrating the elderly on a day set aside globally to draw attention to their plight, is a very good way of giving back to those who have laboured in their youth, adding that the celebration further underscored his administration’s determination to ensure that their labours were never forgotten.

He added that though the welfare of the aged had been a major item of his campaign, he had been unable to kick-start the welfare package he had due to “paucity of funds.”

He said: “Most of you would remember that the welfare of the aged had been one of the major items on my campaign for this office. However, we have not been able to start what we had in store due to the state of account of the council; but we cannot continue to be moaning our circumstances. If care is not taken, we may not get anything done if we continue on that path as we would be marking our second year in office soon. That is why we decided to buy into this event this year and begin what we had in store for the elderly.”

Oke, therefore, announced the take-off of a N2, 000 monthly welfare package for all aged in the council area beginning from November.

“Let me assure you all here today that this council, beginning from November, will give the sum of N2,000 to our aged as part of our welfare packages. This is in addition to our regular food, drugs, and check-up which would continue on a monthly basis. We would continue to give them drugs, food items, and look after their general welfare. But, in addition to all these, we shall be giving them N2, 000,” Oke added.

Though admitting the amount might be small, Oke said the council will, at no time, give anything lower than N2,000, even as he said his office already has a register of about 2,000 people that would benefit from the scheme.

“What we intend to do is that every month, precisely on the 10th of every month, those whose names are already on our register would receive an alert and would be promptly paid anytime they come to our office,” the council chief further added.

In her welcome address, Mrs Modupe said she took over the initiative as part of her determination to give back to the aged for their service and as one who is also “looking forward to getting to that age someday.”

She said her non-government organisation – Nightingale Care of the Aged has been gathering these elderly together once a month under a congenial atmosphere in order to counsel them and take their vital signs while a medical doctor is always on hand to give them health tips. She said this has helped greatly in ensuring that many of them continue to be in good health, even as they are given wheat among other light food items.

“For over one year, the Nightingale Care of the Aged has attended to the needs of over 800 senior citizens through its monthly meetings. The meeting, it must be stated, has afforded the NGO the opportunity to constantly interface with our aged people where issues bothering on their well-being such as health, nutritional advice, health exercises are given attention, while food items are also given to them free,” she said.

She said her group’s commitment to the care of the aged is further underscored by this year’s theme: “Say no to Discrimination of the Elderly,” even as she urged more individuals and groups to show more concern to the aged. She praised the council for buying into the initiative and giving more vive to the event through the introduction of the welfare package.

The Special Adviser to the council chairman Elder Ezekiel Ojo who also doubles as the council’s coordinator of the elderly, said no fewer than 2,000 elderly people would be accommodated by the scheme, even as he disclosed that the number would be continuously reviewed to accommodate as many as could be found residing in the council.

“That amount looks small, but it certainly cannot be lower, and if this can go on for the next four years, it would have gone a long way in adding to the economy of these indigent people,” Ojo said.

He said the chairman decided to introduce monetary package to further cushion the effects of the economy on the aged most of whose children are still battling with unemployment.

Dr. Anthony Ewodage took time to educate the elderly on what to do to avoid high blood pressure and diabetes, two diseases he described as “silent killers.”

He advised the reduction in the consumption of salt, alcohol and drug abuse, even as he encouraged regular exercises, including strolling, walking or jogging, as well as regular check up of blood pressure at least twice a month for anyone above the age of 60.

The health instructor for the aged Mr Olumide Bello praised Mrs. Oke for sustaining the care of the elderly, adding that the monthly meeting where these people gather and often do light exercises had gone a long way in improving the health conditions of many aged people in the council.

One of the beneficiaries Venerable Lawrence Ogunsipe, thanked the council for taking a major step in the welfare of the aged.

Ogunsipe, 74, and a former teacher of the council chairman said the package would go a long way in making life better for majority of the elderly who looked up to nothing and had never benefitted from the government.